Sometimes when we work to significantly improve our society or our politics, people will try to inhibit our efforts by saying, “You can’t change human nature.” They assume that “human nature” is fixed and impervious to improvement. Actually, history has proven otherwise. People have indeed made radical progressive changes, and we can accomplish more.
We do not need to “change human nature.” If we change our society so it will function better, people will change for the better too.
So, for example, instead of assuming that “human nature” causes people to be greedy, let’s change our economic system and our tax system to promote cooperation and sharing instead of overconsumption, exploitation (of nature and people), and accumulation of excess wealth. If we change our economic and tax systems – and the values and culture they represent – we’ll find that people will be more likely to cooperate and share.
Let’s envision, articulate, and organize for a positive “can-do” approach that replaces negative assumptions about “human nature” that hold us back from creating a peaceful, nonviolent, equitable, sustainable, satisfying society.
